'I feel like I did the right thing' ... Frank Davis. Photograph: Sarah Lee
Universal Pictures has become the subject of the first racial discrimination case to be brought against a major Hollywood studio by the US government - a case that prosecutors hope will reveal the injustices in an industry they say is rife with racism and fear.

Prosecutors are seeking up to $8m (£4.2m) in damages from the studio, which is accused of firing a black assistant director because of his ethnic origin.

Anna Park, a lawyer for the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission in Los Angeles, which brought the complaint, said: "We've been informed for many years about problems within the entertainment industry, particularly behind the camera, but people have been afraid to come forward."

In the case, which a judge has ruled should go to trial on June 27, the commission alleges that Universal fired Frank Davis, the assistant director on the $85m action thriller 2 Fast 2 Furious, because of his race and replaced him with a white man.

The film's director, John Singleton, the only black director to be nominated for an Oscar, for Boyz 'n the Hood in 1992, was opposed to the sacking. Willis Edwards, a film producer and former president of the Beverly Hills/Hollywood branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said this was the first complaint to get so far. "This happens all the time, we get complaints all the time about racial discrimination, from the high level to the low level," he said.

Ms Park said she hoped it would encourage others to come forward and promote change within the film industry.

"Where most people in most industries are formally accountable, in this industry they're not," she said. "In most companies they look at whether you are qualified; here, it's who you know. You can see that in the industry because there are so few African Americans. It's horrendous. It's an uncovered story. Here's a man who has suffered. Frankly, Mr Davis was very brave to come forward."

The veteran director and cinematographer Haskell Wexler, who has recently completed a documentary about working conditions in the film industry, agreed that very few people were prepared to take on the studios. "Suppose he wins the case, does he then have a career?" asked Wexler. "He has two strikes against him: one, he's black, and two, he's litigious."

Mr Davis, 47, had established his career as an assistant director on films such as Terminator II, The Cable Guy and Seven. But he has not worked since being fired during the shoot of 2 Fast 2 Furious. He said this week: "I feel like my career has been stripped down. I just feel like I should be able to work in an industry I love and spent my life working in."

Universal said in a statement that performance, not race, was the issue. "Multiple witnesses have testified that Mr Davis was replaced on 2 Fast 2 Furious solely for his inadequate performance as first assistant director," it said. "For 2 Fast 2 Furious, Universal Pictures assembled one of the most diverse cast and crews ever, and did not, and would not, single out any individual for replacement because of his race."

The film was released in 2003 and went on to take $127m at the US box office. It was notable for having both a director and assistant director who were African American - until Mr Davis was fired. The hiring and firing of assistant directors is usually carried out by the director.

In a deposition he gave in November 2004, Mr Singleton said that one of the producers of 2 Fast 2 Furious had told him they were firing Mr Davis, who had been hired by the director after the two had worked together on an earlier film.

"He [Ron Lynch, the physical production head] called me out of the blue and said, 'Hey, you know, I have a problem with your AD'," Mr Singleton said in the deposition. "He couldn't give me a reason. I made it perfectly clear that he should not be fired; that I was not condoning his being fired; that I was not firing him."

Studio sources alleged that Mr Davis had been fired from at least three other films. But in a summary judgment to determine whether the case should go to trial, Judge Gary Feess said Universal had checked Mr Davis's references before hiring him, rendering the allegations about his past performance irrelevant.

Judge Feess also questioned Universal's claim that the firing was solely due to Mr Davis's performance. He noted that the studio waited several months before providing an explanation for the firing, and viewed with scepticism Universal's claims that the film was falling behind schedule under Mr Davis and that there were safety concerns connected with him.

Most damagingly, he noted evidence presented by the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission of a phone conversation between the production manager, Terry Miller, and an applicant for a technical position. Mr Miller allegedly asked the applicant: "What colour are you? Are you black?"

The judge said such an inquiry was "sufficient to give rise to an inference that the termination decision was motivated by illegal discrimination".

Mr Miller later denied the allegation. "I have never and would never ask a question of race to anyone," his statement said, "and the things I am accused of saying are a complete fabrication."

Mr Davis says he buys the trade papers every day in his search for work. "The phone's not ringing," he said. "My parents were very much part of the civil rights movement ... I thought I'd follow their guidelines. I don't regret it because I feel like I did the right thing."